Grape juice may be better than supplements

Drinking grape juice may be a better alternative to taking
supplements, say researchers, who report that concord grape juice's
powerful antioxidant effects may offer extra benefits that
supplements do not.

Drinking grape juice may be a better alternative to taking
supplements, say researchers, who report that concord grape juice's
powerful antioxidant effects may offer extra benefits that
supplements do not.

Concord grape juice is a rich source of flavonoids, the
compounds found also in chocolate, tea and wine, and linked to a
reduction in the oxidative stress associated with risk for heart
disease and cancer.

Researchers set out compare grape juice to antioxidant
supplements in terms of its efficacy in reducing oxidative stress
and reporting their findings in the latest issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition​.

The team gave 32 participants, who were all healthy and averaged
28 years old, either 400 IU of a-tocopherol (an antioxidant
supplement), or 10 mL of 100 per cent concord grape juice, daily
over a two-week period. Prior to and throughout the study, the
subjects were on a flavonoid-restricted diet to ensure that the
primary source of flavonoids in their diets was either from the
grape juice or the supplements. Fasting blood samples were
collected before, during and after the study period.

Both the grape juice and antioxidant supplements provided
significant antioxidant protection to serum, plasma proteins and
low-density lipoproteins (LDL) but the researchers also found that
the grape juice could reduce the concentration of oxidised protein
in the blood by 20 per cent, which the supplements did not.

The authors suggest that future studies should investigate the
long-term antioxidant effects of the grape juice in combination
with a well-defined diet. The fruit juice could provide an everyday
method for prevention of chronic disease in all age groups, they
concluded.